Jasmine Cabrera and Ja'Quan Wallace from the Youth Shelter of Westchester speak about their experiences with discipline, alternative programs, and community advocacy alongside four NYS youth justice bills: Solutions Not Suspensions, Youth Justice and Opportunities Act, Right to Remain Silent, and Clean Slate. They speak with Westchester Children’s Association intern Gabby Nanna, promoting WCA and YSOW’s upcoming Youth Justice Rally on February 23, 2023.

WCA Ground Truthing - Youth Justice Rally 2023

Welcome to Season Two of Ground Truthing, Westchester Children’s Association's monthly podcast where we offer policy insights from the ground up by featuring community voices from Westchester county. 
Hosted by Erica Ayala. 

This episode, we chat with Karen Blumenthal. 
Karen will soon retire after 25 years working as a policy advocate at Student Advocacy. Karen has been at the forefront of the code of conduct conversations happening throughout the county. We break down the history of codes of conduct, districts diligently working to make less punitive school environments, and what still needs to change at the state level. 
Karen also discusses the Cornell Blumenthal Internship, which she and her husband David created to promote paid internship opportunities in Westchester. 
Finally, Karen breaks down the status of the Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Solutions Not Suspensions and what we can do to support more positive and less punitive learning environments for all students. 

You can find all our ground truthing episodes at wca4kids.org 
or on our Data Hub at www.gps4kids.org
Follow Us @wca4kids
Find more episodes by searching #WCAPodcast

Ground Truthing is a Westchester Children's Association production. The show is edited by Eloise Sherrid. Original music is composed by Al Saniuk.

Ground Truthing Season 2 Episode 6: Karen Blumenthal 'Helping Kids Thrive in School'

Ground Truthing unites community voices from across Westchester County to discuss topics that impact children and families. Guests represent content experts, advocates and youth voices. The show will highlight bright spots and critically question existing policies and practices through data-informed conversations. Hosted by GPS4Kids Program Manager and WCA staff, Erica Ayala.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

WCA Ground Truthing - Youth Justice Rally 2023

Westchester Children's Association

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